


In the Time of Albion's Greatest Need

by soprano_in_waiting



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Merlin (TV)
Genre: Adoption, Character Death, Gen, Immortal Merlin, Implied Mpreg, Implied Slash, M/M, Magic Reveal, Mention of abuse, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-07
Updated: 2016-10-07
Packaged: 2018-08-19 23:30:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8228404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soprano_in_waiting/pseuds/soprano_in_waiting
Summary: Arthur was the Once and Future King, destined to return in the hour of Albion's greatest need. Who is to say when that has arrived?





	

Inside a cave, far away, was a man. Dark of hair and fair of feature. Around him, glittered thousands upon thousands of crystals, spreading the faint crepuscular light to all corners. It was a place untouched by time. Year upon year, decade upon decade passed with nary a change. Empires rose and fell, and still the man remained. Sleeping.

* * *

 

_A pair of blue eyes twinkled in mirth as they surveyed their prize. Rough, chapped lips quirked in a tiny smile before swooping in to steal a kiss. “You should know better than to deny a prince.”_

* * *

 

_Sweat dripped from dark blonde strands, long drenched in the sweltering heat. Those same blue eyes turned with an accusing stare. “You’ve gotten us lost! We were supposed to meet the patrols at noon, not sunset!”_

_“Uh…well,” The dark haired youth stuttered, “Maybe we should just stay here then? Let them come to us and all that? Besides, who was the one that decided it was a ‘good morning for a swim’ eh? Certainly not mine, you giant clotpole!” The raven continued, regaining his stride as he continued._

_The blonde smirked, and stalked forward, backing the other youth against a nearby tree._

_“Perhaps, but it’s not my fault if you are irresistible, now is it?” he rumbled before closing in._

* * *

 

_Late afternoon sunlight filtered in through the rainbow of small glass panes. A pale hand traced a lazy pattern across the muscled chest beneath._

_“I love you.”_

_The hand stopped. Startled blue eyes looked up into their matching set._

_“What?” a faint whisper, barely audible._

_“I love you.” A deeper voice replied._

_The slighter of the pair paused, searching those dearly loved orbs for any hint of a lie to the proclamation. Moments passed in silence as he found none. Those pale hands moved to thread themselves through golden strands, pulling those familiar chapped lips to his own._

_“I love you too, now and forever.”_

* * *

 

_“He’s my father, and he’s the king! I cannot go against his wishes, especially for someone who was stupid enough to use magic in such an open manner,” A weary, sleepy voice sighed, voicing his objection for what felt like the thousandth time. He drained the remnants of wine from his chalice, and leaned back in his chair. He wanted to sleep for a year._

_“Stupid? Saving a family from their burning house was stupid? I’d call it brave.” The raven replied, leaning against the fireplace. The other man admired the slim silhouette his lover created against the crackling flames._

_“Brave, stupid, it all leads to the same place: the executioner’s block. To use magic is to be sentenced to death in Camelot. There’s nothing I can do to change that, Merlin.”_

_The servant closed his eyes, deep in thought._

_“What if it was someone you knew?” He whispered, gathering his courage. “What if it was someone you loved?” He turned to face his prince, blue eyes wide with fear, and yet tinged with hope._

_The blonde immediately straightened. Thoughts whirring around his mind, connecting one to another._

_“What?”_

* * *

 

_The prince…no….king stood in all his finery. Resplendent in the rich red of his cloak, dazzling with the exquisite gold embroidery shot throughout. The roaring dragon of his family crest gleamed from the field it was sewn on. Here was a man who appeared confident, collected, calm. Unless you knew him as well as Merlin did. There was a tightness to the mouth, a rigidity to his posture that betrayed with the tiniest of tells his nervousness._

_Merlin glanced around, seeing no one else in the entrance hall, he approached his love._

_“Relax.” He said, grasping Arthur’s shoulders. “You can do this. You have been trained to do this all your life.”_

_The blond looked at him for a moment. He inhaled and let out a giant breath. Golden strands of hair masked his eyes as he bent his head._

_“What if I screw this up, what if I turn into a monster?” He whispered, scenes from the last few years flashed through both their heads. Moments of Uther’s cruelty making them pause._

_“You won’t. You’re a good man. You will be a great king.” Merlin reassured him. A pale hand cupped the cheek of the soon to be ruler in front of him. “And when you stumble, because you will. No one is perfect. I will be right there to pick you up.”_

_A gloved hand covered the one on his cheek._

_“You should be up there with me. This is as much your kingdom as mine.” Arthur said, wishing he could show his people the reason he was the man he was._

_Sad blue eyes looked into his. “I wish they could know you were mine, but there are more important things to do. Like protecting our people and finding Morgana.”_

_“One day.” Arthur asserted._

_“One day, maybe.”_

* * *

 

_“Marry Gwen.”_

_“But-“ Arthur started._

_“You need an heir, something I obviously can’t do. The council is getting anxious, especially with the unrest and constant trouble with Morgana.” Merlin insisted. He didn’t like the idea of sharing his king, but this was something he needed to do._

_Arthur gathered the slighter man in his arms. “I love you, I don’t want any another. I’ll find another way.”_

_“If there was another way, that didn’t involve sending you into another’s arms, I would move heaven and earth. Magic may be powerful, but this is something it cannot do without upsetting the balance of nature. I love you, but I will not leave this up to chance. A life for a life. There is every chance that life could be yours.” Merlin whispered. His hand was grasping the red tunic like a lifeline._

_A week later, a new queen was crowned._

* * *

_Steel clanged against steel in the distance. The vast armies were moving in unyielding battle. Constant swarms of soldiers and horses, clamoring and crawling over each other like ants over the bloodied ground._

_Somewhere, down there, was his aim. Somewhere, down there was his king. He had to get there before it was too late. He couldn’t let the prophecy be fulfilled._

_There! The royal standard flew in the wind, battered and torn, but yet unbowed. Merlin made his way through the Saxon horde. Lightening flew from his fingertips, scorching the barbarians as he made his way slowly, too slowly, through their midst._

_“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” The scream tore from his lips. That moment the silver tip of Mordred’s sword tore through the small gap in Arthur’s armor. Surprise and shock flew across that beautiful face, turning the battle hardened visage to that of a child’s._

_“Nononono” Merlin prayed as he made his way to the fallen warrior’s side. “Just hang on, just hang on” he pleaded as blue eyes closed._

* * *

 

_The raven placed one last kiss on those quickly cooling lips. He was numb. He felt nothing. Nothing as he stepped back through the water, gently lapping at the shore. Nothing as he pushed that rough wooden boat into the mist. Nothing as he sank to his knees and watched it disappear from his sight. There was nothing left._

* * *

 

_“Merlin, you have to eat.” A soft voice pleaded with him. He turned to see Gwen, still looking like the queen she was._

_“Why? There’s no use. I have nothing left to live for.” He replied dully from his seat by the tiny window in his old bedroom._

_“Not even your child?”_

* * *

 

_High pitched giggles spread through the meadow. Soft sunlight filtered through the leaves. A little girl with hair spun of gold and eyes as green as the grass fell to her knees in the warm light. She cupped her hands and closed her eyes._

_“Papa! Look! I did it!” She yelled excitedly, calling to her father on the edge of the clearing. A blue butterfly flew out of her hands and flittered about her head. She followed it as it flew away before running into her Papa’s arms._

_“So you did, love, so you did. Your father would have been so proud of you.” The man told her as he lifted her to his hip._

_“Really?”_

_“Really. He would have loved you to bits.” Merlin reassured her._

_“Tell me a story? What was Camelot like?” Green eyes begged as little arms wrapped around his neck._

_Merlin thought back. “Well, when I first got there, there was this giant clotpole, picking on this little guy…”_

* * *

 

More memories flickered through the sleeping man’s head. Memories of that little girl, becoming a young woman, and having children of her own. The day he realized he would never die. Watching as his grandchildren and great grandchildren passed away.

Years were spent wandering the earth, just waiting for his love to return. He was tired, and so he returned. And he slept. Waiting.

Until bright blue eyes opened once more.

* * *

 

Merlin wandered the suburban street in front of him, wondering why he had found his way here. There was nothing of interest to him as he walked down sidewalk. Cookie cutter house after cookie cutter house. Nothing to distinguish them, one the same after the other. Nothing like the grand Victorian houses or the great Renaissance palaces he had seen in his long days. It was as if there was a competition to be as dull as possible. He passed another house.

“This one must be the prize winner.” Merlin murmured. He surveyed the house before him. Grass was neatly trimmed. The flowers were perfectly in line and blooming, not a single weed to mar the presentation. Hedges were perfectly square, not a single twig daring to stick out of place. He was about to move on when he heard a whimper.

“Now where did that come from?” He wondered. There it was again. It came from in back of the house. He looked around, quickly scanning his surroundings before sneaking into the back through the well-oiled garden gate. There in the scant shade offered by the shed was a tiny boy, curled up in a ball, trying to make himself as small as possible.

Merlin kneeled down by the little child. His hair was messy and unkempt. Small tremors seemed to be running through his frame as he huddled to keep the little bit of warmth his rags afforded.

“Hello,” Merlin softly greeted.

The tiny head shot up in shock. Green eyes round with fear focused on his intruder.

Merlin froze. He knew those eyes.

* * *

 

A young boy ran ahead of his minder. His face had filled out, gathering some of the puppy fat it had sorely lacked. The green eyes were sparkling in joy as he ran to the water’s edge, but still held the traces of his past.

“Harry, hold on. I’m not quite as young as I used to be.” Merlin called out from the woods.

“I’ll believe that when I see a gray hair!” the child yelled over his shoulder. It had been three years since he had been rescued, and life was almost perfect. Harry wished he could take some of the sadness from his adoptive papa’s eyes, but he didn’t know how.

“Keep running away and they’ll be there real soon.” He muttered, climbing over a fallen log as he finally reached the lake.

He sat down on the log. It didn’t seem like anything had changed. The water still lapped calmly against its shores, pushing twigs and other detritus around the edge. Thin swirls of mist snaked over the surface of the silvery waters. Merlin was soon lost in his thoughts.

“Papa! Look, someone’s out there!” Harry cried, pointing to the middle of the water.

Merlin was pulled from his reverie. There in the midst of the haze came a shining form. Plate armor clanged and chain mail chimed as the blond warrior dazedly walked from the water.

Merlin’s heart stopped.

“Arthur…”

* * *

 

The train horn sounded in a warning to the stragglers. The crowded platform milled with people of all shapes and sizes. One little family in particular was standing near the door to one of the last carriages.

“Promise you’ll write. If we don’t hear from you, we’ll come and check up on you.”

“Yes, Papa, I’ll write. Every week. I promise. I’ll be back for Yule, anyways. You know this. I’m seventeen, not seven.” The youngest of the trio replied with a roll of his eyes. His parents were unbelievable. He knew they would follow through too. The first time he got caught up in homework and the whole mystery with the Cerberus, his papa had marched up to the castle to see what had happened. Needless to say, he had not been impressed and had promptly squashed the urge to do any more such investigating.

“You know he worries. You’ll always be our little boy, even when you’re old and gray,” Arthur teased, ruffling the already unruly hair. Harry glared as he attempted to flatten his hair.  
One last toot of the steam whistle and the groaning of the wheels was heard as the scarlet engine started to inch forward. With a quick hug to either parent, Harry hopped through the door. Moments later, he was leaning out one of the windows, waving to his parents as they stood on the platform, arms around each other, waving right back.

They stood there until the engine was out of sight as their son was carried away.

Happy at last that he could live in peace and be a kid for one final year.

* * *

 

Merlin woke from his sleep to a hand gently carding through his hair.

“You’re getting old.” A gently baritone teased from above him.

“Hwau?” Merlin replied, elegant as ever half asleep.

“You have a gray hair,” Arthur enlightened him. “Riiiight here.” He pointed out. Merlin went crosseyed trying to see where he was pointing above his forehead. The words finally penetrated his sleep fogged brain. He raced to the bathroom and there in the mirror was a single silver hair.

“I’m aging. I’m _aging_.” He cried, laughing and jumping into Arthur’s arms.

“Most people would be terrified of seeing a gray hair, not jumping for joy.” Arthur said wryly, attempting to hold his squirming spouse.

“I’m not most people,” Merlin replied, swiftly planting a kiss on Arthur’s lips, before bounding away to get dressed.

“Why are you so happy?” Arthur queried as he started gathering his own clothes.

“Well, it means I won’t outlive another family member. I won’t be stuck here without you again.” Merlin responded.

“I would have never left you to begin with, if I would have had my way. At least I was able to return. Although, why did I come back? You never really answered that. The last thing I remember was falling asleep on that lakeshore. Next thing I know I’m the middle of the lake.”

Merlin paused, thinking back to his memories and visions from his time in the cave.

“Do you remember me telling you about the cave?”

Arthur nodded.

“When I was there, I dreamed, but I also saw visions. Some of them didn’t make sense at the time. A young man, surrounded by flame and destruction. He was covered in blood.” Merlin stopped, and wrapped his arms around himself. The memory of those visions still chilled him. Arthur stepped over to gather his lover into his arms for comfort.

“I think that was Harry” He finally whispered.

“What? Our Harry? Impossible!” Arthur denied. Their son wouldn’t hurt a fly.

“You do realize he’s one of the most powerful wizards on earth? I think…that…..if we wouldn’t have taken him in, if you wouldn’t have returned, he would have lost his heart. He would have become that monster. All that power, but no sympathy, no love to guide it.” Merlin contemplated.

“Hey, forget about it. We’re here. He’s not like that. And I think you have bigger worries than a future that didn’t happen, and isn’t going to.” Arthur told him, a playful glint to his eyes.

“Oh?” Merlin asked, his eyebrow scarily copying a once court physician.

“Like which color of hair dye you’re going to get. Oomph!” Arthur cried as he was punched in the chest.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea stuck in my head for months, and finally got the guts to write it. First attempt at many kinds of scenes, so let me know what you think!  
> Also, assume Merlin handed Voldy his butt before he ever had a chance to regain it.


End file.
